The colour or bruises
by PreviouslyDead
Summary: Lauren Mallory. Mean? Sure, shallow? You bettcha. Absued by the father? Say what? Rating because of violence, self harm, abuse and swearing. Lots and lots of swearing. No smut. AU/OOC sometimes. Involves NO Bella.
1. Chapter 1

Lauren Mallory and i have some things in common.

1) We're both called Lauren.

2) We both hate Bella.

3) We're both pretty too faced...well, maybe her more so then me, but still...

Anyway, so i figure, okay, Stephanie M, you made this character and you gave her no real happiness, not during the first, second or third books at least, i can't remember about the forth since i hate it.

Here is my Lauren story because no good writer can pass up her potential.

Warning: I don't know where i'm going with this but there will be violence, abuse, self harm and bad language. Which is why the 'M' rating. Though its only for safety really.

Disclaimer: If i had owned twilight, Lauren would get Edward...lol. but i don't, its all SMeyer's.

* * *

Prologue.

Glancing into the school bathroom mirror had been a mistake.

It had reminded her how awful she looked and why, exactly, she was getting some strange looks.

The bruise that spread down her right cheek bone was a raging purple that made her skin look pale and washed out. _Its official_, she thought miserably, _I'm totally screwed._

Running her finger delicately down the marred skin, Lauren sighed. Since when did he aim for the face? Why not the ribs and stomach as fucking usual? Scowling at her morose reflection, Lauren shook her head.

Fuck, fuck, _FUCK_. Evil as he was, Lauren had never figured her father for a dumb ass. He'd always seemed pretty intelligent. Well, when he was sober at least.

Lifting her hands once more, Lauren smoothed down the static in her blond hair and rearranged her black shirt so that it covered the scars that littered her arms. Then, taking a deep breath, she left her safe haven.

Arriving in class late was a given. Having twenty-odd other students gawping at her however was just a mere inconvenience. Scanning the classroom as a reflex, Lauren noted with slight disappointment that the only Cullen in the class was Jasper Hale. Jasper freaking Hale. Not Edward Cullen.

Whenever she was around the Hale, his facial expressions ranged from slightly constipated to angry, then all the way back to constipated. Scowling once more, she took her seat next to Angela, diagonal from said Hale, listlessly watching as the half bald teacher blinked at her.

_Just another day,_ she consoled herself, _and just like yesterday, just like Monday, I'm gonna get through it._

This, sad as it was, was her daily mantra. Wednesday, it seemed, would not by growing wings and flying by anytime soon.

An eternity later, the bell rang signalling lunch time, violently breaking Lauren from the trance Jasper's hair had put her in.

_Great_, she thought, _now, not only am i half dead from boredom, annoyed as hell and aching all over, i also have to deal with the fact that a guy has better hair then me_.

With her black, leather purse in hand, Lauren stepped up to place an order of Curly fries, not bothered that the grease in them was sure to bring out all sorts of black herds and spots. If ever there was a time for comfort food, it was after your father senselessly beat you for an hour straight.

A choking sound behind her made her jump and turn around. The one and only Edward Cullen was standing there, staring at her with a disbelieving horror. For once, Lauren didn't melt in his very presence, she protectively hugged herself, then turned quickly grabbing her fries and making for the nearest table. She didn't even bother wondering why his face had been so horror filled. It was obviously her bruise of course, it wasn't like he could read minds.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: I don't know where I'm going with this but there will be violence, abuse, self harm and bad language.

Disclaimer: If i had owned twilight, Lauren would get Edward...lol. but i don't, its all SMeyer's. Or the song, don't own that either. I don't remember if they mentioned anything about Lauren's parents so forgive me if they did.

A/N i know these chapters are amazingly small but i'm building it up gently. And i know Lauren may not act like this in your eyes and if i've mutated her character by giving her a vulnerable side then i don't care because she is still just a teenager and a scared one at that in this chapter.

* * *

That night, as Lauren was laying in bed listening to Ordinary Day by Doloris O'Riordan, she pressed the earphones a little harder into her ears, wishing she could escape the sound of plates crashing beneath her.

Eyes tightly shut, she rolled over and hugged the sole teddy bear she owned to her chest.

A milky white bear called Cole, there were no bows or trinkets attached, the velvet of its skin was only marred, like Lauren's own, by a few splotches of dirt and a couple of black patches she'd sown on over the years. Cole had been given to her along with five hundred dollars on her tenth birthday.

Her parents rarely remembered her birthday, but when they did it was only money they gave her. As a teenager, Lauren was half happy with this but deep inside she wished they'd go, just once, to a store and pick her out a cake, or throw her a party.

It was the same at Christmas. Always money, always thrown at her, instead of handed.

Her mother, deeply affected mentally from the time she had been born was almost always drugged up because the times when she wasn't, she became as violent as her husband, throwing plates and tearing out anything she could get her hands on.

The screaming was louder now, Lauren realised, peeking out form the covers, right out side her door, loud enough that she could hear it even through the highest setting in her Ipod.

"Not tonight Jerry," Her mother hissed vehemently, "You will not do this to her tonight, not while I'm sane enough to stop you!"

Lauren's heart jolted. Her mother was _protecting_ her? If she hadn't been so scared, Lauren would have laughed. _I must be dreaming, right_? She thought, pulling both earphones out of her ears in order to listen.

Another scream, this one quieter, almost as if it was slowly getting farther away, and then the bang.

Lauren's body jolted without and her permission a whimper passed her lips.

Silence. And then laughing, a male voice, jeering and mocking. She waiting, staring wide eyed at the black door that separated her from the devil incarnate. She waited for the tell tale creek as her door opened, but it didn't come.

The black wall stayed put, the only protection she had. After ten minutes Lauren allowed her body to relax, even more so when the door downstairs was slammed shut aggressively.

That's when Lauren noticed the blood.

It was seeping through the carpet under the door, almost crawling towards her, a crimson monster.

"Mommy?" She whispered, clutching Cole tighter.

There was no answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Warning: I don't know where I'm going with this but there will be violence, abuse, self harm and bad language.

Disclaimer: If i had owned twilight, Lauren would get Edward...lol. but i don't, its all SMeyer's. Or the song, don't own that either. I don't remember if they mentioned anything about Lauren's parents so forgive me if they did.

A/N thanks to those who have reviewed, and i was wondering, what should the pairing be for this stroy, i have two ideas that involve Jasper or Edward but any other suggestions? Bare in mind that i hate Bella...lol

Music: Yellowcard

Mood: Unhappy

* * *

It was half an hour before Lauren gathered the courage to exit her room. Her thoughts were full of horrifying images of her mother, lying dead and sprawled on the floor but as she shivered, sidestepping the pool of blood that had collected and tip toed onto the landing, there was no one there.

No corpse, no body parts.

Nothing but cream carpet spoiled by the deep redness of blood. But just as her brow furrowed with confusion, the amount of red registered in her brain.

__

There's too much

, Lauren thought franticly as she remembered a biology lesson on how much blood the body held, _too much blood for her to still be…to be-_

Downstairs, the thundering of a slammed door echoed through the otherwise quiet house.

Closing her eyes and holding back sobs of fear and fury, Lauren bolted for her room once more, shutting the door and backing away.

Ice cold chills swept her body and a whimper escaped her throat as she realised that her foot had sank into the blood soaked carpet; crying out quietly, she fell from the shock, straight into the patch of red.

It soaked through her nightdress and her sobs grew in strength as she scrambled backwards in a frenzied effort to escape the visions of gore and horror that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Lauren!" The voice of her father woke her from the shock and desperation she was feeling and instilled a new feeling of murderous rage and panic.

He'd climb those steps, angry, snarling and ready to hurt her. He'd open her door and he'd find her then he'd kill her too.

__

No,

she shook her head single-mindedly sure that she could run. **_Can't_**

Reaching under the mattress of her queen bed. Covered with a black silk sheet and comforter, Lauren took out the Ten thousand dollars she'd alternately stole and been given from her parents, then, thanking god that the stairs were so god damned big, She hurried to her backpack, taking only the money, Cole the bear and the first clean clothes she came upon, including five pairs of knickers. Socks, it seemed, would have to wait.

Tears still pouring down her face, blurring her eyesight, Lauren opened the window and jumped.

Her feet touched the cool glass of the conservatory less then half a meter away from her window and prayed hard that the slanting glass roof wouldn't break under her merger weight.

It didn't and just as she'd scampered to the drain pipes, she heard her bedroom door open.

There was a slight pause, which she used to drop down to the bouncy green grass below, wincing from the painful twang in her ankle, then the shouts of the man who didn't deserve the title 'dad' started. His obnoxious voice growling her name.

Lauren didn't even pause to think that he might see her, she just ran, straight into the woods, straight into the darkness that seemed to welcome her.

The trees were bent and crooked, with branches that were like fingers, reaching for her. Because it was winter the leaves were absent, blown away into some random stream, or into someone's garden.

The ground beneath her feet was frozen cold, the dirt and stones like glass because of the coating of ice.

Cursing herself for not brining socks, Lauren quickly ran further into the trees and didn't stop until she reached the end of the forest, where it met with some sort of meadow.

Breath coming in puffs of white air, she sank to the ground ungracefully by the nearest tree and pulled her knees up so she could hug them to her chest.

And the tears started all over again.

__

With Alice's vision

A pale white bundle stood out from the rest of the darkness. Somewhere a little further off a fox passed by, feet shuffling through leaves.

The noise woke the bundle, which Alice now realised was a teenage girl. The girl looked up, face pale but with red cheeks. She was familiar to the vampire but she couldn't place her, or her surroundings, and then, as suddenly as the vision had started, it faded. Leaving Alice Cullen with the worst sense of dread.

Lauren took a deep breath, assuring herself that it was just a fox. If she had to guess at how she'd been sitting in the same position, and judging form how numb her butt was, she's have said two hours. If she knew the truth, however, it'd have been more like all night because when the smallest Cullen found her ten minutes later, she was unconscious and plagued by severe case of hypothermia.

"Lauren," The black haired pixie breathed, "Oh, my _god_!"

Scooping up the girl, Alice realised that without the air of confidence and smug expression she usually sported, Lauren was smaller then she seemed and definitely more frail.

After Edward had expressed his worries for the girl, Alice had decided to talk with her the next day, she had never thought, however, that the poor girl would be reduced to this…this frail, weak thing.

__

It's decided,

Alice thought, studying the bruise on the girl's cheek, _there is no way I'm leaving her out here, whether she likes it not._

And so she took her to the Cullen mansion, and while Edward was out, slipped her into his bed, smiling slightly at the irony as Lauren had properly had this dream a dozen times, only with a different situation in mind.

She rang Carlisle and told him that he should bring the family back home, stating simply that there was a problem that needed them all.

let him beat me, not when mom gave her life away for me. 


	4. Chapter 4

Warning: I don't know where I'm going with this but there will be violence, abuse, self harm and bad language.

Disclaimer: If i had owned twilight, Lauren would get Edward...lol. but i don't, its all SMeyer's. Or the song, don't own that either. I don't remember if they mentioned anything about Lauren's parents so forgive me if they did.

A/N I'm so glad people are liking this story so far, anyway, im still not sure what pairing this should follow. There is one that i'd like to try even though its weird, unlikely to be a good idea and in some people's views, wrong. So, i''m almost definitely going use it then...lol. When you figure it out please let me know 'cos i'll feel all special inside and whatnot. Also, what about Bella? Should i add her in? I think not, but what about you?

Plus, you'd never believe how crappy lest Wednesday was! I ended up crying for like, 20 minutes in front of my whole class plus everyone i saw in the school corridor. Totally humiliating. So thanks to all you reviewers because you all really cheered me up!

Current Creative Music: SugarCult - Pretty Girl and All American Rejects - Swing, Swing

Mood: Lazy...is that even a mood?

* * *

Edward wasn't in the least bit angry.

That confused Alice to no end, of course.

After all, she'd brought a girl home who'd only recently given up her obsession of him and had had brief stalking episodes, but she listened intently as he explained his theory.

"Lauren isn't..." Here he paused, glancing at the bed the girl they were talking about was on, "Her mind doesn't work the way it used to. She contradicts herself so often its strange, almost like she's trying to find a reason to dislike herself along with making everyone else wary of her, but i just thought...i don't know what i thought but obviously it wasn't enough."

Edward shook his head sadly, eyes slightly glazed as if he were looking at something Alice couldn't fathom.

"Don't blame yourself, Edward, i didn't have any visions of her before, did i? I didn't know either. No one did, there is no possible way we could have done _anything_" Tilting her head at him, she frowned, before turning away and heading gracefully back to the bed.

The small vampire took a seat in an armchair they'd maneuvered to face Lauren, then lifted her hand to push silk blond hair back from the sleeping teenager's hair, all the while contemplating the future.

Edward didn't need to watch as his sister walked away, he didn't need to feel the comforting waves she was unknowingly sending out to him just be being there with him, in the same room. He let his head fall forward and just studied the carpet, as if the secret to happiness lay within it's fuzzy, cream depths, consistently shouting mentally at himself for not noticing the seriousness of Lauren's life before.

She'd covered her vulnerable side with snappiness and bitchiness and no one had bothered to look under that. No one, not even the hundred odd year old, _mind reading _vampire. Alice was right in some ways, they'd never taken a long look at Lauren before, always assumed that her bitterness was because she was spoilt.

Still, he felt pathetic for not acting sooner, or at least not realising sooner.

So much for the_ 'older the wiser'_, he thought bitterly, glancing again at the still figure curled on his bed.

Esme chose that moment to walk in.

She took in the scene, then, after sending a sad smile at Edward, she joined Alice at the bed just as she came out of her vision looking troubled, Edward of course, was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the troubled look she shot him before staring at where her hands resided on her knees, or more directly, at her wedding ring. Eventually though, Alice glanced up from her lap as Esme started talking quietly about what their choices were.

"A)," She murmured quietly, "We keep her here and hope she doesn't freak when she wakes up,"

Esme pursed her lips, perfect eyebrows furrowed in sadness. "It may work, Alice, if she doesn't know-"

"We'd have to tell her everything," Jasper interrupted as he strode purposefully into the room, "We couldn't let her live here, in a house full of vampires and not tell her!"

"I agree," Edward added quietly.

"Plus, we have to see Rose's reaction to this," Jasper said meaningfully, "You know how she is, they'll be back from England tomorrow, they didn't want to cut the honeymoon short,"

Alice snorted and rolled her eyes, not loosing an ounce of beauty whilst she did it.

"Typical Rosalie,"

Jasper nodded, then glanced hesitantly at the stirring girl. "We should make our minds up faster," His musical voice interrupted the sudden silence as everyone turned to watch Lauren.

Suddenly Alice froze, her features closing off as her face went slack, almost dead, like in that hey-i-don't-have-a-heartbeat kinda way.

The concentration of the present Cullen's quickly transferred from the still sleeping teenager to the immortal vampire teenager.

"Water," She murmured, head snapping up, eyes widening quickly, "The water's too deep! I can't breath!"

"Alice?" Edward questioned, exchanging a worried glance with Jasper who'd stepped closer to his wife the moment she'd spaced.

Alice's visions had never been like this, she didn't talk until after them.

"No," She whispered, "Oh, my **_god_**!"

Then it was over. She blinked and looked around at them.

"Why are you staring at me?" Alice asked, raising her slim brows.

"Al-,"Jasper started forward.

"What did you see?" Edward asked, interrupting his brother, who shot a glare at him. Annoyance flashing in his mind. Edward looked back at him and shook his head, "I couldn't get into her mind at all, she was completely blocked from me, that's NEVER happened before," His voice was quiet but the fear that laced his words was obvious.

"But i didn't have a vision," Alice stood up and shot a confused look at Esme who shrugged helplessly.

Both boy's turned to look at her, opening their mouths simultaneously to speak.

But at that moment, Lauren bolted upright, screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

Warning: I don't know where I'm going with this but there will be violence, abuse, self harm and bad language.

Disclaimer: If i had owned twilight, Lauren would get Edward...lol. but i don't, its all SMeyer's. Or the song, don't own that either. I don't remember if they mentioned anything about Lauren's parents so forgive me if they did.

A/N I'm changing the rating now, to 'T' because i can't see myslef writing any bad scenes, at least for now.

Current Creative Music: Billy Talent

Mood: Moody...lol

* * *

And screamed, and screamed.

She wouldn't stop, or even open her eyes, for five solid minutes.

After which, she flopped back onto the bed and left the four Cullens flabbergasted.

Edward was at the teens side within nano seconds, taking her hand whilst frowning, "What in the world was that?" He murmured silkily, easing his thumb pad over Lauren's wrist, as if trying to calm her fluttering pulse with his skin on hers.

_**If anything,**_ Alice noted slyly, smiling impishly, despite the seriousness of the situation, _If anything, that'll **speed** her pulse up!_

Edward shot her a dirty look, opening his mouth to reply icily but was plagued by thoughts of Jasper, naked.

Wincing with agony, Edward forced himself not to look at Jasper and focused on the once more sleeping girl.

_If i can get inside her head_, his thoughts whispered, _i can see what happened_.

Closing his eyes, Edward focused, stripping down the muffling barriers that normally kept the voices of his family dampened.

Darkness.

Edward flinched, hissing lowly as he watched the black inkiness that was Lauren's mind. Every thought, happy or otherwise, seemed to have been sucked from her mind, stolen away and it infuriated him.

"Edward,"

A voice called to him.

"Edward, dammnit!"

Someone was shaking him but a grey matter was surrounding him, masking his eyes, mouth and nose, like all his senses were on lock down.

"Edward! Manly vampires DO NOT FAINT!"

The smog grey stronger, greyer.

"Edward, don't make me get Emmett," the concerned voice warned, "He'd have a field day."

Even that threat didn't steal him away from the rolling fear he felt from where he was still seated in Lauren's mind.

However, what did bring him out was another voice. A softer, yet more jaded girl's voice.

"Edward," It whispered, "Edward Cullen?" Then, with the next words the soft voice seemed to bleed horror and confusion, "Vampire!"

Suddenly, Edward realised. Not only was he in Lauren's head, Lauren was in his too.

"Lauren?" His voice was slow, cautious even. He almost felt the weary glances his family exchanged around him.

"Help me," Lauren's tearful voice begged.

Edward made himself a promise in that one moment. He swore that he'd stop her from hurting. He swore that she'd never have to be afraid again.

Now all he had to do was get her to wake up, wake himself up, convince her he wasn't a bloodsucking fiend, and promise her that Alice had found her by jogging in the woods at midnight, like always.

The he had to get her away from her loathsome father.

Yeah, well. No one said being charitable was easy.

* * *

Yeah so its short. And quite crappy if i do say so myself but right now? Writers block is looming, things at school are horrible, everyone hates me, with the exception of maybe a few people and to top it all off my Grandad is coughing up blood.

So as you can guess, i'm not in a writing mood unless its one shots. So i'm trying, i really honest to god am, but please, be patient.


End file.
